Que pensez-vous de la culture soninké ? A-t-elle un avenir ?

[sajokuumba Kamara]

"And if you think I'm too harsh I'm asking why can the pakistanis, the turks, and other people do what we can't" ?

The simplest and truest answer to your important question, in my mind, is: A Community with a deep sense of the value of its culture particularly if this culture is seen as the best possible response to Life and living or a God sent one.

When Life is reduced to Islam and making money, then there isn't a lot to be taught outside of these two. This, in my view, is the reductionist culture of the post Wagadu Sooninkaaxu-money and Islam. So, if parents send their children to school and they are given the fundamentals of Islam, they think they have fulfilled their obligations as parents. This closes the matter for the desire to make money is already in your blood. This is what has been happening in the Diaspora. This is my view. Let us not quarrel with it.

In the village, it is not much different. Here, too, you are forced to live within your caste and then seek personal wealth and follow Islam. The culture is a lot broader because you now have the music, the dance, the appropriate way of dressing for various occasions, the foods, in short, the way of living that we call Sooninkaaxu.

I joined this particular forum among all the others I have been quietly following for sometime, because I think it is at the core of all of our concerns-the culture that we can call Sooninkaaxu.

Like you and Nas and Idipro, et al, I too, am a Diaspora Sooninke. I can state here that there are some Sooninko in the Gambia who will not consider me as part of the Sooninke world. Among those who grew up among the Sooninko of Jimira and Fulladu of the Gambia, I am as much of a stranger as someone from South Africa, or Papua New Guinea or Australia. This notwithstanding, I am interested in the Culture because of what my father-LajieMama Kamara- taught me.

He taught me about Goodness. He taught me about Excellence. He taught me fearlessness as the basis of Hooraxu-Nobility. This nobility is not about birth, or about blood, or about caste. This Hooraxu is what brings you, the individual, in the presence of the Divine Company Gods and makes you shine among humans. He taught me not to exploit others, that is, to be fair in all my transactions with my fellow human beings no matter who they are. He also taught me not to be lazy. This is tied to Goodness and Excellence. He taught me to put every ounce of energy that I could muster and apply myself fully to whatever I was doing so that whosoever sees it will know that this is the handiwork of a Kagoro. He taught me to be independent within the social network so long as it is not regressive or conservative for Life is dynamic or oppressive.

I could go on but the above paragraph sums up eloquently how Sooninkaaxu and Kagoraaxu were defined to me by my father. As I see it, culture is first Spirit whose energy is translated into the concrete details of Life and living-the how part of Life. The Spirit of the culture is alive and vibrant, always adapting to the realities of the moment and the demands and challenges of the day.

Do we value our Sooninkaaxu? If so, what does it mean outside of customs and ancient traditions? Can Sooninkaaxu be responsive to the demands and challenges of Life and living? If yes, then, there has to be a community of vibrant people who maintain and enrich the culture by the very way that they respond to the challenges and demands of Life. Why should a Kome-slave- uphold a culture that is largely exploiting him or her? Why should a naxamala uphold a culture that will not allow him or her to excel to the highest pinnacle of society if he or she has the capability, the education, the moral character to be there? Can the modern Sooninkaaxu be based on a meritocracy? Can Goodness and Excellence be the cement mortar that hold us together?

Let us not run away from ourselves. We have something very important to contribute to the human race again. However, we can do this only in community. The Sooninke Revolution will invariably start in the Diaspora first as this is the sector that can rise above the deadly caste system. I am a meritocrat and not an aristocrat by philosophy. Let us not quarrel about this one either. Let us see the limitations of the caste system and rise above it.

Let us take this seriously. What does the Sooninke culture mean? To answer this question, we have to know what culture is, in its broad terms. Then we can study what Sooninkaaxu is and then, may be if we have the energy, do something about it in community.